


Yare, Yare! Naruko Gaiden

by eri_quin



Series: Naruko Hiden: Tales of a Gutsy Kunoichi [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25102657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: Naruko thought it was hard being Kakashi's only pupil and already being engaged, but then the CRA is enacted for politics and there's this whole gritty process and a bunch of men that seem really broken and need her to fix them up. She doesn't know how to deal with fanclubs, learning Mokuton, and finding her father and immortality too. Growing up seems hard.Uzumaki Naruko was one of a kind and you can damn hell bet on it! She could be spunky, (hopefully) pretty, and way too energetic for her own good. She didn't think that was bad, but she was always buzzing with energy and couldn't help it sometimes. But what she knew absolutely was that she was going to be a kickass kunoichi pretty soon too, and soon enough she'll be the Hokage!She wore her happiness on her face, open about it and refusing to let anything get her down. That was how she was, even if sometimes she admitted to just herself the resentment and loneliness were always going to be present too. She was open to herself about those things and to those who mattered. Then again, sometimes you fake it to make it, right? So sometimes a mask ended up being shoved on for the world when she needed it…
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uzumaki Naruko, Minamoto Nakago (OMC)/Uzumaki Naruko, Sarutobi Asuma/Uzumaki Naruko, Shiranui Genma/Uzumaki Naruko
Series: Naruko Hiden: Tales of a Gutsy Kunoichi [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818070
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	1. Bird Cage Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally gonna start transferring (and editing) this fic from FFN to here~

The young girl hummed in boredom, getting herself ready for the day and for the upcoming meeting with the Hokage and who he had wanted her to meet. According to him, it was someone very important and that it was 'imperative' she and whoever it was get along.

Huh. She didn't know why, but if Hiru-jiji really wanted it and thought it was super important, then damn right she was going to take it seriously! Humming to herself, she grabbed the pretty package that had been sent to her from Hiru-jiji and opened it up to reveal a really pretty (but thankfully simple!) kimono. Scrunching up her nose at the colors and lack of orange, she slowly dressed herself in it and then glanced at the mirror at herself, tilting her head. Her blonde hair needed a good brushing, but she didn't look _too_ bad, right? Smiling at herself widely, whisker marks on her cheeks stretching with her smile, she made sure to fix her hair into simple loose pigtails after she'd yanked the brush through her hair a few times.

Uzumaki Naruko was one of a kind and you can damn hell bet on it! She could be spunky, (hopefully) pretty, and way too energetic for her own good. She didn't think that was bad, but she was always buzzing with energy and couldn't help it sometimes. But what she knew absolutely was that she was going to be a kickass kunoichi pretty soon too, and soon enough she'll be the Hokage!

Humming louder, she slipped on her shoes that were hid under the long kimono and headed out of her apartment, ignoring the rickety stairs and grinning up at the sunny sky once she was outside.

She wore her happiness on her face, open about it and refusing to let anything get her down. That was how she was, even if sometimes she admitted to just herself the resentment and loneliness were always going to be present too. She was open to herself about those things and to those who mattered. Then again, sometimes you fake it to make it, right? So sometimes a mask ended up being shoved on for the world when she needed it…

Still. She wasn't really into having secrets, but like most people she had secrets of her own. The one that was most sacred to her was the one approaching her —like all young, silly girls, Naruko wasn't immune to crushing on a guy.

Just…15 year olds normally weren't crushing on older guy friends, did they?

"Ah, Genma-san! Do you need help?" Naruko grinned at the senbon chewing man, trying not to focus on her rapid-beating heart and hoped her cheeks weren't flushed red.

"No thanks, Naruko. I'll see you around," he replied as he continued walking past without another glance.

Naruko kept grinning until he went out of sight, the grin dropping dejectedly. She tried not to think about it or Genma, but for a while now he'd been like that and she didn't know why or what was going on. Her mood worsened as she watched Uchiha Sasuke being stalked by his fanclub. She almost sneered, but shook herself mentally. She reminded herself that she had to meet the old man.

"Um, Naruko…how are you?" Kotetsu, a long-time friend of hers, asked as he appeared suddenly.

"Ara! You snuck up on me. Don't do that!" she practically jumped, heart beating out of her chest. Some super kunoichi she was!

He chuckled before nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Um, well, can I walk you to the Hokage's?" he asked, knowing she had to go and was headed there himself.

"Sure," she shrugged, looping her arm around one of his nonchalantly and glad to be able to take her mind off of Genma, even if it was only for a bit.

The two of them leisurely took their time in walking to the Hokage Tower, Naruko back to musing over her latest failure with Genma and continuing to wonder what happened with them.

"You look really pretty today in that kimono, Naruko," Kotetsu said quietly, breaking her out of her previous thoughts.

"Oh…this? Hokage-jiji made me wear it. He said I'm meeting someone special so I have to wear something nice. Do I really look nice?"

The black yamabushi kimono she wore was topped with geta and a dark emerald haori. She'd much prefer orange, but it _was_ nice and the Sandaime was the one who'd given the getup to her, so she could deal.

"Really beautiful, Naruko. Who're you meeting?"

"I don't know," the blonde frowned, realizing she had no idea who or why she was meeting anyone. It'd slipped her mind and she hadn't really cared too much about it or looked into why.

"Guess you're about to find out," Kotetsu mentioned as they stood in front of their destination. "Well, I've got to go deliver my report. You'll be okay going up?"

"Hai, hai. I'll see you later, Tetsu-chan."

He grinned and planted a kiss on her cheek, disappearing into the building first. She sighed before following after him and this time forcefully dispelling anymore thoughts of her unfortunate infatuation.

"Ah, Naruko. You're here," the Sandaime Hokage smiled at her and she sent a huge one back, though it faltered at seeing someone next to him.

A younger man stood next to him, wearing similar clothing as the Hokage, only with brown instead of red. He was just a bit taller than Hiruzen, blonde hair (just a touch lighter than Naruko's) was styled loosely around a handsome face, complete with piercing blue eyes.

"Hello, Hokage-jiji. Who's…this?" Naruko started out warily, remembering to be more respectful when others were around Hiruzen.

"This is who I want you to meet. This is the Yondaime Tsuchikage Minamoto Nakago."

Naruko awkwardly bowed politely before she hesitantly held out her hand and was surprised when the Tsuchikage grabbed it and bent to kiss it. Her face heated up and she was sure her face was bright red.

"Anou sa…why am I here?" Naruko questioned, getting dazed.

"You're here to meet Tsuchikage-dono. He's to be your fiancé," the Sandaime abruptly revealed, waiting for the inevitable outburst after dropping that bomb on her so suddenly.

"WHAT?!"

The other men looked suddenly awkward, but the air was driven out of her and her head filled up with confused thoughts.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said anxiously, way too confused and a little panicky. "But I'm 15 and he's…not? And I'm just about to become a genin! And what about being from different villages? Wait a second, he's the _Kage_ of another village! _How does that work?_ Aah, do they know he's _here_?"

The Tsuchikage —Nakago -Minamoto? How did she refer to him in her head?! —looked amused and gave her a friendly, though reserved, smile.

"I apologize for the suddenness of the news and meeting," he said and she admitted he had a soothing kind of aura that made her slightly relax. "This is urgent however and Hokage-dono and I decided it best to meet at this time and let you know. Please believe us when we say, though, that this _is_ important and we are not trying to ambush you into anything."

"As Tsuchikage-dono says, Naruko, this is actually trying to be for your benefit. We'll try to explain more over time, but…time is actually very short on us and I'm hoping to do all I can for you. I promise you, you'll understand soon enough and that this is meant well."

Naruko was still unsure but she nodded unsurely anyway, giving a tentative smile. "I still don't understand…but I hope I will." She turned to her… _fiancé_ and tried to make her smile surer. "I am still actually very pleased to meet you, Tsuchikage-kun," she said, trying to compromise between being respectful of titles and her usual tendency to be overly familiar with names and honorifics.

"I am pleased to meet you too, Naruko-san," he gave her another reserved smile.

They talked a bit more about idle stuff, mostly about her upcoming Genin Exam that day and how she was feeling about it, and just staying around idle subjects to diffuse the tension and awkwardness. Not too long after though, the Tsuchikage had to excuse himself to receive a message and Naruko rounded on Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking more like an angry cat. Hiruzen chuckled nervously.

"Hiru-jiji, you're not serious, are you?" she asked incredulously, once again feeling out of sorts about the abrupt situation she found herself in.

"Naruko, it won't be that bad," he insisted. "Besides…you've met him before, don't you remember? You liked him before." But that confused her and made her even more agitated, since she had no idea what he was talking about.

She let out an outraged scream, turning and stomping away, not bothering to stay and hear out his reasons. The old man sighed and put his head in his hands. He wondered if the events would ruin Naruko's chance at passing the Genin Exam, agitated and unfocused as she now was. Maybe he should've waited until _after_ the Genin Exam to talk to her about this…

Meanwhile, as Naruko stormed away, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was missing something. But then a newly familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and she stopped and turned, seeing the Tsuchikage calmly walking towards her. She fought the urge to turn and run and gave him a small smile.

"May we get together and talk?" he quietly requested.

She fidgeted but shyly nodded, even more shyly accepting his offered arm. He led her, to her happy surprise, to Ichiraku's where he ordered two miso ramen to go. Strange, how he'd ordered her favorite…

"If you don't mind us taking our meal to your place for a more private discussion?" he looked calmly at her and she tried not to turn too obviously a red.

She nodded and after the silent wait, the food was ready and this time she led him to where she lived. She was certain he knew where it was already though.

In embarrassment, she led him up the precarious staircase and then to her apartment, fumbling with the keys before finally getting it right.

"S-sorry about the place. I haven't had time to fix it up or make repairs," she said as she closed the door behind him.

He nodded, not letting her see his unhappiness at her place. It wasn't her fault, he knew, but the state of the place could do with some renovating. If he could, he would already be bringing her with him to Iwagakure.

"Let me cut to the chase, Uzumaki-san. I have been Tsuchikage for only a few years. My predecessor, Onoki-dono, is currently unable to serve as Tsuchikage for…health reasons," he started out quietly. "I'll be blunt. This is a marriage alliance, but that doesn't mean that I will be distant or controlling. In fact, should you wish it, you may pursue a relationship with others."

It was only fair, given the force-ness of the marriage and the age difference, as well as the political machinations she was unwittingly involved in. He wanted her to have some sort of choice and the ability to find some happiness.

"But wouldn't that reflect badly on you?" She tried not to fidget, but his presence and his words were making her feel nervous.

He gave her a small smile. "No, the marriage or engagement will not be public, at least not for a long time. No one else has to know but myself, Hokage-dono, and you. Well, Onoki-dono knows as well, but he's reluctantly accepted the 'truce'."

"Will you have…a mistress?" she mumbled, the thought upsetting her. She didn't want to marry someone and then they'll have someone else.

He looked at her in surprise. "Oh. Ah, no. Of course not. It would not be appropriate for me to seek someone else's company when I will be a married man, and especially once we're married."

She scrunched up her eyebrows. "Then why are you letting me go after guys?"

He actually started to look embarrassed and she thought the reaction was rather cute.

"Well, I feel, as a man, that it is inappropriate for me to engage in such. You're being forced into this and we have not married yet anyways, so I would understand if you wanted to see other men. But for myself, I find it would be dishonorable to go into such conduct. I'm not saying that because you're a female and so and so, and that I'm a male and so and so…it's just that in my _personal_ belief that as a man, I have more responsibilities and I will be the one more judged for such things."

He winced, "Ah, I apologize. I am rambling and not making much sense, am I? Please allow me to try again. I am trying to say that…I'm not being misogynistic –" she had no idea what that word meant – " and being gender biased at all. I'm merely trying to say that I believe personally that I shouldn't engage in such things because as a man, I just feel it is beyond improper and highly disrespectable to you. It's just…wrong, especially since I am one of the instigators of this whole thing."

She looked at him in amusement as he sighed and rubbed his temples. So she just snapped apart her chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu," she said simply digging into her ramen.

He stared at her before hesitantly reaching for his own chopsticks and starting to eat as well. He murmured his greeting before snapping his chopsticks.

"You tend to ramble, don't you?" she grinned after slurping up a noodle.

He coughed, "…Yes. Especially during explanations or speeches. I just tend to…end up trying to explain myself and it never goes well. My advisors exasperatedly end up making my speeches and such for me, and I just tell them what I feel and what I want and they interpret my ramblings into some semblance of order."

She snickered before switching onto something else. "And this 'as a man' thing…you really don't have to be so chivalrous and outdated, Nakago-kun. Though I think I can…sort of interpret that. You mean as a personal belief and not a 'world view', huh? And as yourself, not men in general?"

By the silence and his elegantly continual usage of his chopsticks, she could guess she was right and that was only compounded with the slight tinge of pink across his cheeks. Though he was surprised at the use of his given name and with a more familiar attachment.

"Sometimes I'll never make sense. I apologize in advance for it, and thank you for putting up with it," he just said simply.

She waved it off and happily went back to her ramen.

"Anyways, why me?" she asked after she'd finished, glancing mournfully at the empty takeout bowl.

Nakago was quiet for a second before sitting back and looking at her seriously.

"You are aware of your heritage, are you not? As am I. I know whose daughter you are, Uzumaki-san. You are the daughter to the Yellow Flash, the bane of Iwagakure's existence. The reason why a marriage alliance is being proposed is to help bury the hatchet between our villages. You see, Sarutobi-dono wishes to announce your heritage preferably near the next Chuunin Exams, for your rights you are denied now and other things of his agenda. But to avoid assassins and any bitter grudges from my village when the time comes, he's approached me with this so that you may be safe when the time comes."

"Why say yes?" she questioned him.

"Now that I must keep to myself for now," he murmured, staring straight into her eyes.

She knew she had to be at least somewhat blushing at the attention.

He pushed aside their bowls and grabbed her hands, tugging her around the table and away from where they were sitting. Standing up, she realized that he was way taller than her at her current height and her heart oddly began to thump loudly in her chest.

"If I may, Uzumaki-san," he said simply, still holding her hands. And then his hands moved and cupped her face, tilting it as he leant down, her breath stuttering in surprise and anticipation.

His lips touched hers and her eyes fluttered close.

* * *

_A little girl with whisker marks on her cheeks sat crying in the sandbox. She was all alone and it was getting late, the sun starting to set._

" _What's wrong, little one?" A blond man with funny clothing like the old man's smiled at her as he squatted next to her._

" _No one wants to play with me…they all left when I asked if I could play with them!" She let out a sob and the blond man's smile widened._

" _Well, I can't play with you right now but I have something that might cheer you up. You can remember me this way!" and he handed her a pretty ring, a pearl resting in the middle of a silver band, with tiny little diamonds surrounding it._

" _Take good care of it, okay?" He smiled again, leaning to kiss her cheek._

" _I will," she smiled up at him._

_He left and she stared at the ring in her hands. She tried to put it on, but it was much too big on her tiny fingers. Clutching it, she ran to ask the old man if he would give her a necklace she could put the ring on._

Naruko stared at the pearl ring on her left index finger. She had grown and it fit on that finger when she turned eleven, four years ago. She wondered why that memory came up right then. Sighing, she looked at her clock and then gave a slow blink. She screamed.

"Oh crap! The Genin Exam! Iruka-sensei is going to flip!" She hurried fixing herself up and bounded out of her apartment in a panic, rushing to get to the Academy to be on time.

But, as Iruka stared her down with narrowed eyes, she'd probably failed. She winced and gave a shifty grin and small wave at him.

"You're late!" her favorite teacher yelled at her.

She offered a weak smile then and gave a shrug. He frowned but shook his head in exasperation.

"Hurry it up, the exam is right through that door," he pointed to a lone door in the corner of the room.

"You're not the examiner?" she asked confused.

"No, Hakuro-sensei is the examiner this time," he smiled reassuringly at her and she nervously headed to her fate, though she wondered where Mizuki-sensei was. She thought the other examiner would've been him, since he was usually the assistant teacher for Iruka.

"Alright, one mokuton bunshin, one suiton jutsu, and two katon jutsu," Hakuro ordered once she was in the room, catching her off guard and confusing her.

What? They never learned any of that…and she was sure they wouldn't be testing them on this stuff.

"But –"

"Well?" he smiled maliciously and she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

Her legs quivered and she felt herself fill with anger then. She couldn't stop the sob that escaped her mouth before she turned tail and ran from the room, bursting into the room Iruka was in, startling him and fleeing. There had been two instinctive reactions. One had been to violently explode and start screaming obscenities at him and the other had been to run away and cry to herself where no one could see her. Her tears were few and far in between, but when it all just built up, that was always the reaction that forced its way through.

So she sat gritting her teeth on a random rooftop, glaring into another setting sun. She had stopped crying awhile ago, but her anger was still present.

"Naruko, so you're here," a much loathed voice interrupted her silent vigil.

"What do you want?" she grumbled, not turning to look at Hakuro.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I wasn't in a good mood. I should have talked to the others, seeing your situation, and changed the test for you. There is, however, another test you can take right now that will allow you to pass."

"…Really? Are you serious? What is it?" Her curiosity overwhelmed her, even though she still felt hesitant.

Hakuro smiled, looking apologetic. "There's a certain scroll that'll give you a straight pass."

And it was only later, when the truth began to unravel and things came apart…

In the forest, Naruko grinned in triumph, holding tightly to her prize. The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing was held tightly to her bosom and she dared not move it away for even an inch. She eagerly began opening it and started learning the first jutsu.

By the time she was halfway through, Hakuro decided to appear. The malicious grin was back on his face and Naruko shivered at the harsh demeanor that had come over him.

"Well, well. Look at what the monster's doing," his voice mocked her.

Her breath was coming in heaves, her eyes narrowing at him even as her sweat gathered down her face and got into her eyes. Her heart was pounding too fast and a sick feeling was coming over her.

"What are you talking about?" she gritted out, feeling stupid and knowing that she'd somehow messed up now.

Hakuro laughed in ridicule at her. She gnashed her teeth in anger, feeling the betrayal creep up.

"Nothing you should know about, you little wench. You're just a little demon," he sneered, coming up close and grabbing her hair roughly. He gave a sharp pull, dragging Naruko up and she thrashed around in his grip, trying to get away. Then his face twisted into a monstrous expression, smiling madly at her and it made chills run up her spine.

"But I think I'll tell you anyway," he whispered huskily into her ear once he'd punched her gut and had subdued her enough.

And then he began telling her one of Konoha's most dirty secrets, each word spilling from his lips taking the fight out of her and making her more and more numb and miserable, shock rushing through her system.

By the time Iruka arrived on the scene, the secret had just been entirely told and Naruko was crying harshly against a tree with Hakuro's form pinning her there. The brown-haired chuunin immediately caught the henge around Hakuro though.

"Kai!"

Hakuro's form poofed into Mizuki, the other two's eyes widening at the truth, with Iruka becoming more furious and Naruko's confusion growing, but also anguish getting in the way of it.

"What's…what's going on?" Naruko cried out.

Mizuki shrugged carelessly, "I saw Hakuro treating you unfairly at the exam and decided to use it to my advantage. Too bad Iruka had to get in the way. And all I wanted was to kill you and take the scroll all for myself."

Iruka glared at him, understanding why Naruko ran off earlier and that now she had been tricked and used. He wasn't going to let Mizuki get away with this!

"How dare you use Naruko! She doesn't deserve any of this!"

"No…he's right. I do deserve to die. I'm the Kyuubi. I have to be killed before I get out of hand," Naruko unexpectedly said, eyes glazed over as she was still reeling from the revelation of what Mizuki had told her and now understanding the truth of what she was and why everyone hated her.

Mizuki smirked and released his hold on her, her body sliding down the tree uselessly. She was starting to feel completely numb.

"Finally, someone with some sense!" Mizuki cackled, but to keep away the anguish and distress and also stop feeling numb, Naruko clung to the growing seed of anger inside of her.

"Naruko! Are you alright? Don't listen to him! You are Uzumaki Naruko, not the Fox!" Iruka tried to counter.

Naruko hid her face and took a deep breath, before looking back up fiercely at the both of them.

"Suck face, you bastard!" she yelled, glaring at Mizuki. She leaped up and began running away, scroll thrown over her shoulders.

"Naruko!" Iruka yelled in panic.

Mizuki cursed and began to chase after her. Iruka chased after him and then a while later, Mizuki and Iruka faced off after the latter had tricked Mizuki into following him when Iruka henged into Naruko.

"Why do you defend her? She killed your entire family! That demon wench had that look in her eyes! She'll turn around and murder the whole lot of us and backstab you!" Mizuki sneered.

"Sorry, I haven't met that Naruko. My Naruko is sweet, compassionate, and even if she's bratty at times she can always come through for the rest of us!" Iruka retorted stubbornly.

"Well then, I'll just have to kill you now."

Mizuki started towards him, but a sudden tackle to his gut halted his progress. Naruko immediately stood up and glared, glad to at least know she had someone on her side still.

"You won't lay a finger on Iruka-sensei, teme. Or else I'll show you what this _demon_ can do," she growled, once again clinging to her anger and letting herself drown in it and feel for that odd sense of light and power within that anger. She glared at Mizuki and thrust out her hands, instinctively grasping that sense and letting it go.

Mizuki snickered, but he stopped and screamed in fear when branches sprouted from the ground and began binding around his body. It encased him and Iruka watched wide-eyed as some kind of mokuton jutsu was performed, surprisingly from his student.

"Naruko, well done," the Sandaime's solemn voice echoed into the clearing as he approached the scene and Iruka spotted the Hokage with a taken aback but hesitant Hakuro.

Naruko stared in horror at the wooden tomb, not noticing the arrivals as she dropped her hands uselessly to her sides.

"You did it to save me," Iruka tried to reach her.

She cried out in horror, collapsing onto her knees and began bawling. She was lost to everyone else.

But she wasn't lost anymore as to why she seemed to have so many people always leaving her behind…maybe this was why they left…

…Oji-san…Inu-tan…Weasel-kun…Genma…

_Shuriken and kunai was scattered all around the six year old girl, who was panting in frustration, glaring at the target away from her. Stupid Uchiha. Him and his stupid fangirls and stupid perfectness. She could do better than him. Just watch._

_But she had no one to teach her to throw the weapons correctly. She knew her hold was clumsy, her aim was always off, and her throws felt awkward. She tried to ask for help but no one came to her aid, unlike with Uchiha-teme._

_Growling to herself, she chucked a kunai at the target and missed._

" _You're doing it wrong."_

_She whirled around in surprise, too startled to be angry about the criticism and to work up a retort._

_A brown-haired young man was glancing at her and the target, eyes noting the various kunai and shuriken around. The senbon in his mouth moved to one side before the other. He walked closer._

" _Your stance is wrong. You're not aiming, you're just throwing. You need to really look at the target and judge your throw. Your grip should be a little more like this," and then he actually adjusted her hold, amazing her._

_Who is he and why was he actually helping her?_

" _Eh, I got a couple minutes. Want some help?" he asked nonchalantly and she looked at him in awe, not even noticing the slight blush that grew on her face._

_That was her first meeting with Shiranui Genma, and how she'd immediately fell in love with him._

_**Genma-san, Genma-san, would you ever be able to fall in love with a monster? Or is that why you've become so distant from me?** _

_**Please…my hand that reaches out to you stretches so far…but you're an ever fading figure that I just can't reach…** _

_**You grow so farther away from me.** _

Started 2/12/07 –Completed 2/13/07  
Revised 2/24/11 –Completed 2/27/11  
Edited 5/25/20-5/31/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think in the revision, I did a pretty good job editing it to fit with a reverse harem…And it will be a pretty odd mix of men in the reverse harem, very unusual but that's usually how I do things. I know there are two OCs, but to be fair –I can't even remember why I made Hakuro in the first place. He won't have too big a role, but he'll be a nice, supporting character –just to expand Naruko's family and so she can have more precious people, I suppose.
> 
> Nakago, on the other hand, will be a larger character. He was my Tsuchikage before the new chapters revealed who he really was, so I had to edit his background and role in here to sort of keep it in canon with Onoki and all. I hope you guys don't mind him too bad and grow to like him. I usually have a good track record of at least male OCs (the one main female OC I had everyone hated, but that's only because she unintentionally and unknowingly broke up the main couple for a little bit).
> 
> As for Naruko, I know she cries a little bit more than the male Naruto, but you can't honestly say you wouldn't either if all this was happening and it just kept building up. And the Japanese, when I first wrote this, I had a lot of that in here, but because I didn't think I did too badly with them and because I'm lazy, I didn't remove them. They'll lessen over the chapters once I start writing new ones, but I can't completely stop since I already started with them in the beginning. It'll look inconsistent. Honorifics are a must though.
> 
> 7/5/20: Was rewriting her to be 16, but then thought it'd be more significant later on.


	2. Saturday Night Divas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna try to finish transferring all the chapters today ;-;

Naruko was stuck in the hospital, missing out on the last days of the Academy, even though she felt completely fine when she was awake and not feeling tired from the meds that were being fed into her (if bouts of depression and misery didn't count). Thankfully, she would be released when the teams were to be assigned and she tried to keep her mind on that. But that was still a long way away and it wasn't like she graduated or anything…

She briefly glanced over the bouquet of sunflowers in the vase on the table next to her, attained by Nakago, who had frequently visited her since she'd been brought in. She couldn't help the small smile at the sight of them and the flowers were a nice reminder that someone cared and a way to pull her out of her dark thoughts and depression. It was a very sweet gesture from her…fiancé.

She still was getting used to that thought, especially since thoughts of Nakago always seem to bring up thoughts of that first tentative kiss, accompanied with confused feelings and a heavy blush.

A knock interrupted her musings and the door to her room opened. To her surprise, Hakuro entered and she mentally jolted in shock and wariness. She hadn't expected seeing him again and still hadn't forgotten the test and the way he'd treated her.

Unexpectedly, he laid a hand on her shoulder and said gruffly, "You did well, kid. You graduate."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him in visible shock now. He laid a hitai-ate on her lap gently, speaking again in an apologetic tone.

"Iruka's been wanting to give you his ever since he found out you graduated," he revealed. "But I wanted to give you mine because I wanted to apologize. We settled on Iruka's bandanna and my metal band as a compromise."

He straightened up and turned to leave hurriedly when Naruko reached out and weakly grabbed onto his arm, the constant drip of the drugs into her system from the IV bag making her woozy again.

"Can you stay with me? I'm too stoned to fight against any more Mizuki's…" she murmured before flopping back onto the bed, feeling too drained and emotional (and drugged) to keep awake.

Hakuro blinked, "Sure, kid…"

The Sandaime came awhile later as Naruko began waking up again, now a little more aware than earlier and thankfully freed from the IV bag that had been connected to her, so that her body system wouldn't burn out the meds immediately out of her (that's what she vaguely remembered the docs said on one of the days she'd been awake enough to ask).

"Ah, Hiru-jiji…Uro-chan almost became Mizuki-teme when I woke up. I think they gave me more drugs than I needed, old man!" Naruko pouted and fought off a yawn, though she was relieved that Hakuro was sincere in his apology and she wanted to try a clean slate with him.

"Uro-chan?" Hakuro blinked again.

Hiruzen chuckled, "Naruko, you need to stop adding –chan to all your guy friends. You don't call Iruka 'Iruka-chan', do you?"

"Sometimes," she said sleepily, still not fully awake.

"Yes, well, to what I need to talk to you about. What did Mizuki tell you that night?"

"Is he still alive?" she said sharply, suddenly totally alert (if still a bit loopy from the drugs, that were now rapidly burning out of her system). Memories of that night was blasting into her head, causing her to feel all mixed up.

"Yes. You didn't kill him, but he was severely weakened."

She sighed in relief, relaxing against her bed. But then she shot up, startling Hakuro and the Hokage.

"I need to cut my nails!" she cried out, panicking all of a sudden and worrying the other two.

"What? Why, Naruko?" the Hokage asked bewildered.

"Because! Usually I don't like long nails because they get in my way, but now I've realized they're long because I'm the Kyuubi!" Mizuki's revelation was like on a constant loop in her head right now and she felt like puking.

Hiruzen hit her upside the head in rebuke, his weary face looking down at her. He suddenly felt as old as his age, wondering what in the world could he do. He'd hoped to delay this reaction through having her sleep off most of her severe chakra exhaustion (and that was another thing, especially with the epiphany of her mokuton usage), but from the reports of bouts of depression on her 'awake' hours, that that hadn't worked as well as he'd wanted.

"Stop that now. You aren't the Fox. Everyone's nails grow long and your nails are no exception. Is that what Mizuki told you? That you are Kyuubi?"

She whimpered and curled in on herself. "He told me everything! Why everyone hates me, why I don't have any family, why I'm so alone! He told me all about the Yondaime and the Kyuubi!"

Surprisingly, Hakuro was the one to speak next. "Ah, come on, kid. Mizuki doesn't know what he's talking about. You're just a girl. A gullible girl with a big heart. And I'm sorry I missed that," he looked chagrined at that.

"Hakuro-san is right. The Yondaime sealed the beast inside of you. You are its container, not it. As for everyone hating you, I'm sure Iruka and I don't."

"I don't," Hakuro added.

"You hated me before!" Naruko accused him, unable to not remember and point that out.

"Yeah," the chuunin shrugged, admitting plainly to it and owning that truth.

Naruko gaped in surprise at the answer, the tears still flowing down her face. And then she began to laugh, the other two joining in. That fresh bit of honesty, even if it had been the admittance to hating her, was actually relieving because she knew it had been true and she could count on it to be a point of genuineness in this.

The two spent a little more time with her before leaving, letting her settle down a bit and relax in their presence. And then she was stuck in her room in boredom.

Well, at least she passed?

There was a knock and she turned to the door to see Nakago politely waiting for her to let him into the room. She gave him a wide grin that he surprisingly echoed, coming in and sitting by her side. He took one of her hands, holding it in one of his. It made her heart flutter oddly, but it was familiar and a little bit strange to experience it now and with Nakago.

Usually Genma made her heart act like this…

"Nakago-san, thank you for visiting me all the time. It's less lonely and bearable to be in here when I actually have someone visiting me," she told him honestly. She supposed since they were going to be married then it was best for her to try to keep honest with him, though she was usually an honest person anyways.

"It is no bother, though you should have more visitors. You deserve it," he told her solemnly.

Her grin widened even more and she excitedly sat up. "Iruka-chan comes chattering every day after the Academy lets out. Hokage-jiji comes whenever he can and just today, Hakuro-sensei was nice to me and even told me I passed the exam! My hitai-ate is his metal band and Iruka-chan's cloth, see?"

He smiled gently at her. "That's good. I'm happy for you for all of that."

Her smile faltered as she remembered what she'd just learned not too long ago. "Um, Nakago-san…Hokage-jiji told me I could tell anyone about this, and since we're gonna get married…I have the Kyuubi no Youko inside of me," she blurted out miserably. She hastily looked around, but he shook his head, his face telling her nothing.

"No one's around," he told her.

She swallowed harshly. She felt disappointed now, even though she hadn't been too sure of this engagement. "So…now that you know, you don't have to marry me, if you don't want to now. You don't have to marry a monster –"

All of a sudden, he'd flipped her hand he was holding up, placing his flat against hers.

"What do you see?" he suddenly asked, confusing her.

"Um, our hands?" She wasn't sure what he was getting at, but she forced herself to be patient, even though she just really wanted to fidget and ask him what he was on about.

"Correct. But what do you _see_?" he pushed her.

She started thinking hard, hoping she wouldn't get frustrated or that her head started to hurt.

"My hand. And your hand. Uh, mine's soft," she guessed and with a nod from him, she hesitantly continued. "And it's smaller than yours. It's easy to see when they're placed up against each other. Your hand is bigger than mine and I can sort of feel it calloused a bit from training. Other than that, I don't really see much difference."

She shrugged but his gentle smile remained.

"Exactly," he told her. "You are not a monster, Uzumaki Naruko. You are every bit as human as me. The differences are minor and are telling of certain things that say about us each in our lives. But they are alike. They are the same. And this," he gestured with his other hand at their touching ones. "This says that I will stand by you no matter what. Our hands touching give the symbol that I am there with you, and as a physical metaphor of our future vows.

"I already know about the Kyuubi since the beginning of the arrangement. It doesn't bother me. Nor should you let it bother you, Naruko."

"You…you said my name," her eyes were wet with tears, but she didn't let them fall. Her recent tears were enough and she hated crying.

In response, he only curled his fingers down and held her hand. She sniffled and bent her head, leaning towards him as she curled her own fingers and held tight to his. His other hand heavily but comfortingly settled itself on her bowed head.

* * *

Finally having gotten out of the hospital, Naruko walked around in the new clothes Hiruzen had gifted her with and tried to not rush to the Academy and look like a dork. But she was excited! She'd passed and was gonna get her genin team today! Maybe, as a treat and incentive on good shinobi behavior, she'd go past Ichiraku's to smell the food…

She neared her favorite restaurant and inhaled the scent of the food wafting from it, leaning against an empty food cart just outside. Her eyes fluttered happily.

"Ara, Naruko! Look out!" Teuchi yelled out to his number one customer.

At that moment, the blonde cursed the baggy hakama she wore. The red material had easily caught onto the cart she was next to, therefore delaying her escape from another oncoming cart that was rushing her way from her side of the street. She was about to take out a kunai when a body impacted into hers and tackled her to the side and away from Ichiraku's.

She landed on him, because from the feel of the person she was sure it was a he, and felt the brush of air as the cart ran past and right into the spot she had just stood at. It smashed passed the other cart and kept going. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at her savior and just blinked.

Three quarters of his face was covered and his one eye held a bored look.

"You're an odd-looking man," was what surprisingly came out of her mouth.

"Thank you," he stood up abruptly, adjusting her into a bridal hold.

"Hey, you can put me down!" she pouted, trying to hide her embarrassment.

He shrugged and put her down, walking away. She gaped after him. What's with that guy?!

"Ah, what the hell. I've got to hurry back to the Academy."

Still, that was rather an inelegant save coming from a ninja. Deciding to put her mind off of it, she decided she'd rather look like an eager dork and rush the rest of the way, and hopefully avoid anymore mishaps like that too. She was just starting to hurry up, when her feet automatically slowed and her eyes were drawn to a familiar figure.

She hadn't seen Sarutobi Asuma in _years_.

" _I'm not your stupid uncle!"_

She flinched and couldn't help staring as the man walked in a different direction, cigarette in mouth. She knew Asuma had been back in Konoha for a while now, but she hadn't seen or talked to him, and he hadn't reached out either. She really didn't know what had happened with them. She'd…she'd really thought they'd been family at one point…Even Jiji had thought so, had wanted it like that…

Naruko took a deep breath and ducked her head, continuing to walk towards the Academy and keeping childhood memories in the past, where they belonged.

When she got to her classroom, she sat down in the back. She didn't have anyone to be with anyway. She looked around, spotting Ino and Sakura fighting over the seat next to Sasuke and everyone else just fooling around. The rest of the Sasuke Fanclub was arguing against Ino and Sakura as well.

Sighing in boredom, she lifted her feet and planted them on the desk.

"Hi, Naruko!" her sort of friend Kiba sat next to her. His face grew red and he smiled unsurely at her.

Chouji, Shikamaru, and Shino joined them, causing Kiba to frown and grow annoyed.

Naruko didn't really have friends, but these guys at least took some time to talk with her. The only other person she talked to in the Academy was Hinata, and she was kind of weird…in the quiet and shy way…

"Played any pranks lately?" Chouji asked as he munched on some chips.

She shrugged and grabbed some chips without asking. Chouji smirked and kept eating, having already anticipated it.

"Nah, the old man has me leashed for awhile. Shikamaru, shogi?"

Shikamaru began setting up the game and she began chatting with the others as she played shogi with Shikamaru. Grumbling after the fifth game, she lost again by only a couple of points.

"Man, that's so not fair!" she pouted.

"At least you're the only one close enough to beat me," he yawned, laying his head back on the table.

Anything more was put off when Iruka came in and started to assign teams, which got her practically vibrating in her seat in excitement. She straightened up in her seat and waited impatiently for Iruka to call out the team assignments, and nearly wailed aloud at hearing who was going to be on her team. She glared holes into Iruka's head.

' _Why, Iruka-nii? Why the_ _ **betrayal**_ _?'_

She was not exaggerating, not at all. Not when she had Uchiha "I'm better than everyone" Sasuke and "Hates Naruko's Guts" Haruno Sakura.

Naruko kept silently bemoaning her fate, stiffening and distracted only briefly when she heard Asuma's name as the sensei for Team 10. But then they were finished and waiting for the teachers to come in, and she saw Asuma himself walk in with the others. All the other teams, except hers, were called forth and picked up by their sensei, and Naruko tried to duck down behind the desk when Team 10 walked towards Asuma, who collected them quickly and left without catching sight of her.

Later, as time passed by though, Naruko sighed for the umpteenth time, still waiting with her team for their sensei. Utterly bored and irritated at the wait, she was ready to abandon ship. Maybe she could find Iruka and get him to buy her ramen? She still had to harass him and demand why she was on this team. Unbelievably, she was stuck with rooster boy and #1 freak fan. She wondered why her bad luck had landed her on a team with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura!

Just when she was contemplating going to set up a prank, the door opened to admit their sensei finally and all of them straightened up, glaring at the door. A silver-haired man stepped in and Naruko's heart beat fast while she lost her glare in surprise, recognizing him.

"Yo…this is gonna be a long meeting. Meet me on the roof in ten." He vanished in a plume of smoke.

With a rush, all three of them ran out of there and towards the stairs, with Naruko (with practice because of her pranks and the amount of times she had to escape or run from everyone chasing her…or both) speeding away and making it there first.

On the roof, the weird guy she just met earlier began the talk once everyone was there, sounding super bored. "Alright, talk about yourselves. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, whatever."

"Ne, can you start, sensei?" Sakura eagerly asked.

"Maa, my name's Hatake Kakashi. I dislike brats, I like Jiraiya-sama's books, and my hobbies and dreams are classified. Your turn, Pinky."

Grumbling, Sakura went on, giving their new sensei the stink eye for the nickname.

"My name's Haruno Sakura. I like…my dream…my hobbies…I dislike Naruko," she said plainly, hesitating at everything else, though she did a lot of giggling and glancing at Sasuke. Naruko mentally face palmed.

Kakashi sighed and then pointed to Sasuke, and Naruko reluctantly turned to listen.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My only focus is my ambition to revive my clan and kill a certain person," Sasuke said darkly and Naruko stared. What the…And who the heck did he want to _kill_? She shivered.

"Ahem. Alright, you next," Kakashi pointed to Naruko, who perked up and grinned widely at him.

"Eh…I like Tetsu-chan, Genma-san, Hiru-jiji, Teuchi-chan, Ayame-chan, Uro-chan, Iruka-sensei, and ramen. I dislike Sasuke and the Sasuke Uchiha Fanclub. My hobbies are…a lot? And my dream is to be Hokage!" _'Um, I think I like Nakago-san too,'_ she added mentally, blushing furiously at the thought. She didn't think she should mention him to anyone though, so she didn't.

"Okay…now that that's done, let's get started. At training ground three tomorrow, we'll meet at 5:00 am. Don't eat breakfast or you'll puke."

That done, he left them as he once again vanished and everyone separated, her other two teammates leaving her behind just as she decided she'd invite them to a team dinner.

"Eh, whatever," she pouted to herself.

* * *

The next morning, Naruko groggily got out of bed and clambered into her shower. She lazily got ready for the day, yawning every other second. Then she headed out, grumbling to herself about missing breakfast.

"Ah! I want to eat breakfast, but he said not to! But I'm so hungry…" Naruko panicked, whimpering as she headed an hour early to the meeting place. She saw Genma appear nearby and this time when he saw her, he slowed down too and came closer. Her heart raced excitedly and she felt her cheeks warm, as she couldn't help smiling. It really had been so long since Genma had come talked to her!

"Naruko, you're up early. What are you doing?" Genma stopped by her side, smirking as he rolled a senbon around his mouth.

She pouted, "Kakashi-sensei said not to eat breakfast, but I'm so hungry!" That was expounded on as her stomach growled loudly.

The jounin narrowed his eyes for a second before straightening up. "Have breakfast with me," he stated plainly, making her mentally trip.

"Huh? Why? And didn't you hear me? Kakashi-sensei said –"

"Come on, Naruko. My treat," he smiled at her.

She paused. While Kakashi did say not to eat breakfast, this was Genma. She hadn't been with him for so long; she had missed his presence in her life. He was one of the few that saw the real her. This was a rare opportunity and she wasn't just going to waste it because she wanted to follow the rules for once.

"Okay!" She followed him to Ichiraku's, eager to fill her stomach with some ramen.

"So, your sensei is Hatake Kakashi, huh?" Genma questioned her as she ate.

"Mmhm," she answered, swallowing her noodles.

"Well, he's late to everything by at least two hours so you won't see him until around seven or eight. Depending." That caused her to almost choke on her noodles. He laughed at her and she glared back, before she was again pouting.

"Ah man! Though, depending on what?"

"Now that, you have to find out from him."

Genma stood up and ruffled her hair, making her realize he was going to leave already. While sad he was leaving, she was still happy that she got to spend time with him.

"I've got to go now. I'll see you later. Why don't you go back and take a nap until 6:30 or something?"

"I think I will. Bye, Genma-san!"

Doing as he suggested, by the time she had woken up, it was around that time. Grinning to herself, she grabbed a box of strawberries and began munching on them as she walked towards her destination.

She almost snickered as she saw her two teammates asleep. Then again, she didn't have the time to with Kakashi appearing from out of nowhere right by her side. She 'eeped' and moved away.

"Oi, time to wake up," the other two genin groggily woke up and he saw that Naruko looked well rested. Not at all what he had pictured her to be after his instructions from yesterday.

"Alright, the deal is this. This is the true Genin Exam. Pass it and you'll be one of the nine graduates out of twenty seven who become genin. It has a sixty six percentage of passing. Don't count on yourselves being one of those lucky nine."

He took out a clock and set the timer for noon. He took out two bells and held them up.

"These are your objectives. Get the bells from me and you pass. Left without one and you're sent back to the Academy…after being tied up and watching me eat my food in front of you."

Two stomachs growled and Naruko hid her smirk. She was about to start off, eager to just get started when a pain in her head made her collapse and she cried out. She didn't see the others try to help her.

" _Will we always be together?"_

" _Of course. Until eternity."_

" _What is this? What are you doing?"_

" _Your gift, my love. Together, we will have eternal life."_

" _How dare you! We were to have forever! We've spent years together! Body after body…and this is how you are to leave me? With her?"_

" _I find you weren't who I really love at all. All these years…I never really knew you, Hera."_

" _Sorry, love. Couldn't let you have all the fun so I decided to kill what was so precious to you. I hope you don't mind…Minato."_

" _Hera…my…_ _ **wife**_ _…where is my daughter?!"_

" _What a pitiful end. Minato deserved to die. Now his daughter will suffer by the very village he sought to protect. Goodbye, lover."_

"Naruko, Naruko! Wake up, please!"

' _Weeiird. What the hell was all that about?'_

She groggily opened her eyes, her eyes fixed into a narrowed glare. She still felt Hera's anger, though it conflicted with the sadness inside that probably came from Minato. Now who were these people and why was she seeing their memories? Hell, why did she feel everything from their feelings to physical contact? The name Minato sounded familiar though…Her father was named Minato! But…they couldn't be the same, right? Was Minato a common name?

"Are you okay, Naruko? Do you think you can still go on with the test?" Sakura asked her as the two males stood behind her, and surprising Naruko with the concern. She was on the ground with her head being held up by Sakura, which was almost weirder than the vision she'd received, considering the girl's usual animosity towards her.

"Yeah…it was nothing," she lied. There was no need to involve them right now, especially since they weren't a team or close, and it wasn't like she knew what it meant either.

"Hmph," Sasuke replied, turning away and exasperating her.

She scowled in his direction, but directed her attention towards Kakashi when he spoke.

"Are you sure? That was rather sudden and you seemed the best rested out of the three."

"Um, yeah," she muttered, still a bit confused but trying to focus on the present.

"Then begin," he said abruptly and everyone scrambled to get away, with Sakura immediately pushing Naruko away to run off into the trees after Sasuke, and Naruko flopped back onto the ground almost. She got up quickly before pausing.

Naruko almost started but she awkwardly made a turn at the last minute as she remembered something.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei! There are only two bells when there are three of us. How come? I mean, I know that without a bell, you eat in front of them as they're tied up."

"Two bells insure someone will have to go back to the Academy."

"Wait! That's no fair!" she glared at him. He shrugged. "Then I won't play by your rules! The other two can have them. I'm just going to sit here and do nothing! I refuse to go and indirectly fight the other two for a stickin' bell, you jerk! I protest!"

He stared strangely at her before leaving. She blinked at the sudden action and just plopped down, pouting.

Man! Now she had to go back to the Academy! Well, at least she got to be with Iruka again…

* * *

"Alright, here's the deal. The two of you fail and Naruko passes," Kakashi said bluntly, surprising everyone.

"Wha?!" Naruko stared at him, mouth gaping in shock.

"How come?" Sakura demanded and Sasuke looked furious.

"Because she understood something that the both of you should've, considering she's the so-called dobe," Kakashi drawled.

"And what's that?" Naruko asked curiously, letting the dobe comment go. Though she twitched a little and began to pout about it.

"You refused to fight the others for a bell. I purposely had only two bells to pit you three against each other. I wanted to see who was willing to give up their chance for the others."

"Okay…um, does this mean you wanted us to fight together regardless of a bell? Like…the bells weren't the real objective, but defeating you was? Or no! Maybe the bells are the objective, but we had to find a way for all of us to pass. Like two of us had bells, but the other was holding onto a string or something…Ugh! My head hurts," Naruko complained, not really an analytical person.

"You just said it, Naruko," Kakashi said amused. "I wanted you three to 'fight together regardless of a bell'. I didn't care if you defeated me or got a bell. If you lost and didn't get a bell, but showed some teamwork, I would've passed all three of you."

"Oh," Sakura searched for something to say, looking disappointed. She turned to Sasuke then, smiling feebly. "Um, well, we can always go back to the Academy and try next year, right Sasuke?"

He grunted and stalked off, refusing to stay behind in his anger. Sakura chased after him worriedly.

Naruko frowned, "One of these days, I am so gonna pummel Uchiha-teme for having a stick shoved all the way up his ass. Bastard."

"Watch your language," Kakashi rolled his eye, though quite amused at his student's narrative. He scratched the back of his head. "I _was_ gonna give those two a second chance, but they just left. So…"

"Treat me to some ramen!" Naruko grinned, hungry again and deciding to hell with it. Plus, _ramen_. How could she not try to finagle some more ramen out of someone?

"Eh?"

"Everyone I know treats me to ramen, so let's go to Ichiraku's to eat."

"What about the box lunches?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I'll eat those too!" she exclaimed, grabbing the stacked boxes and tore the lid off the top one and beginning to shove food into her mouth with chopsticks she got from somewhere.

Kakashi sweatdropped.

Started 2/14/07 –Completed 2/15/07  
Revised 2/28/11 –Completed 3/1/11  
Edited 5/31/20-6/5/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, as you can sort of see this isn't quite the Sakura/Sasuke-bashing. In fact, as the story progresses, they and Naruko do become closer. As for how weird this interpretation of the Bell Test came up…look how easy they came off and passed with the lunch thing in canon. Same principle here with Naruko, and plus the two were going to get the lunch second chance if they hadn't of just walked away. That little flashback thing is important for the future, but won't play into too much right now. I got the idea for her being Kakashi's sole student from a mention either from one of the databooks or somewhere (I hate it when I can't remember) where Kishimoto said something about originally making Naruto his only student or something like that.


	3. Narukotherapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this honestly should have been done faster, but I got drawn into the rabbithole of online mangas and manwhuas and disappeared into a daze for a bit XD

At Ichiraku's, Naruko eagerly ordered and sat herself down, waiting for Kakashi to sit down next to her. To her luck, almost as if he was haunting her steps, Genma came into view nearby, stopping outside a shop and checking the wares displayed. She watched him sadly. Kakashi's always been pretty observant and had of course caught on.

"You like Genma?" Kakashi questioned, watching Naruko watch the man.

"Yes…no…maybe. I don't know," she said without taking her eyes off the other jounin.

"Huh," he said simply, knowing not to push.

"He doesn't talk to me anymore," she stated depressed, looking down.

"I talked to you this morning," Genma snuck up on her, coming from out of nowhere. Kakashi had noticed him come over, but hadn't said anything so Naruko would be surprised.

"Ah! Genma-san!"

"I see you're with Kakashi. So your team passed?" Genma asked her curiously.

"Actually, only she did," Kakashi grinned under his mask, eye-smiling cheerfully.

Genma's eyebrows raised. He reached over to ruffle her hair, but quickly retracted his hand. "Huh, I guess I'll get the details later. Good luck, Naruko."

He walked away with Naruko staring at his back, though Kakashi noted how his movements were jerky and his walk was hurried.

"What did you guys do this morning?" he focused on instead.

"He offered to treat me here. I was hungry but I was heading like an hour earlier to the meeting place. He caught me and we had breakfast here before I went to take a nap to meet you," she confessed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Aha! So that's why you were so well-rested," Kakashi accused.

"Guilty," she laughed weakly.

"I don't care. At least you know now when not to follow unreasonable orders."

"You're not going to be late meeting me all the time, are you?" Naruko scowled, eying him suspiciously.

"Well, no. I suppose not," he said thoughtfully, inwardly shrugging. "You are my only student. And well, I guess my first."

"Eh?! What do you mean by that?" Naruko was taken aback, staring with wide eyes.

Kakashi shrugged outwardly this time. "I've never passed a student before. None of them met my expectations."

"Aa…Uh, is there anything else we need to do?" Naruko changed the subject, feeling odd and unsure how to react to that.

"Well, I have to do the paperwork signing you in, and since only one person passed I'll have to get special permission from the Hokage to train only you and not a whole team."

"Wouldn't that mean we're short two genin of the nine this year?" she asked, curious about that.

"Probably. Who knows. Maybe one of the others did the same as I did or another extra team was passed."

"If you don't mind, I could come with you to do the paperwork. I help Hokage-jiji sometimes and maybe I can get him to give you permission," she said shyly.

"I guess. Go ahead and try. We should head now though," he eye-smiled at her again.

"Mmkay," Naruko grinned and grabbed onto Kakashi's arm, rushing the both of them to the Hokage Tower. Excitement started to thrum through her veins and she started to rush through the tower.

"Hokage-jiji! Guess what! Guess what! I passed!" Naruko yelled, bursting into the Sandaime's office after she finally reached it, yanking Kakashi behind her.

The old man chuckled and looked at Naruko's sensei, who looked unused to all things Naruko. He'd known Naruko for a long time now and _he_ still wasn't all that used to her.

"Ah, Kakashi. You've finally passed a team?" he asked amused.

"Uh…that's the thing. Hokage-sama, only Naruko here passed," Kakashi admitted immediately. That made Hiruzen pause, running that through his head and keeping from grimacing outwardly.

Strangely, the Hokage's face turned completely serious towards them, "Naruko…you can wait next year for a team. You'll have an automatic pass, seeing as how you've already passed this year, and wait for another two for your group," his voice was grim.

"Huh? But why, Hokage-jiji? I want to start training now. Then I can take over your job, old man!" Naruko was confused and panicked, trying to tease him and lighten him up while dealing with her upset emotions at this weird turn.

The Sandaime's face crinkled into a sad smile. "Naruko, you remember Uchiha Sasuke was on your team, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. What about the teme?" Naruko asked annoyed, not understanding the big deal and what did Sasuke have to do with anything.

Kakashi chose to remain quiet, listening in on their private conversation.

"I put him there so you can have an easier time," Hiruzen revealed tiredly. "When they give you your pay, it will be an equal team pay. And equally other things that could be helped out with just having him as a teammate. At least, that was what I planned with having Sasuke on your team. The villagers all wouldn't treat him horribly. But now that he didn't pass and you did…Naruko, I don't want them to treat you horribly. They'll see this as your fault that Sasuke did not pass. Just wait until next year, please," he even pleaded with her.

Naruko stood silent. When she opened her mouth to speak, Kakashi cut her off. He was worried she was about to give in and this was not what he knew of her.

"Hokage-sama, I'll take full responsibility for her. I'll make sure she gets her equal cut of the pay and make sure she's treated equally in my presence. I'll also personally watch over her to ensure her safety," Kakashi swore.

The Sandaime Hokage stared shrewdly at him, scrutinizing him and his words. Finally, "Alright, Kakashi. But it is Naruko's decision. Naruko? You can always wait until next year…" he again offered.

"Um…Hokage-jiji, I want to start now. Please…" she timidly said, unusual for her.

Hiruzen wearily sighed, but mentally nodded to himself and acknowledged this to be her answer. So instead, he turned the mood around and went to cheer her up.

"Okay, Naruko. As you wish. On one condition…you try this sweet, adorable-looking kimono I found the other day!" he grinned, his attitude turning a complete 180 as he held up the newest outfit he'd found for her and wanted her to wear.

"Uh…it's pink." She blinked at his change of attitude, but then squinted her eyes at the kimono and especially its color.

Kakashi sweatdropped at what looked to be a usual occurrence between the two.

"Yes, I know. I promise to get you something orange next time."

"Fine, you win, Hokage-jiji…"

This is where Kakashi found himself walking out, with a red-faced Naruko in a pastel pink kimono. Well…she _did_ look very cute in it, so maybe there was some light teasing in store…

They'd been walking for a couple minutes when Naruko saw a familiar figure, feeling delighted and deciding to call out to him. Her fiancé had quickly become someone important to her and someone she cared about, despite how short a time they'd known each other.

"Ah, ah! Nakago-san, you're here! And you're wearing normal clothes," Naruko enthusiastically greeted him, noting his casual wear.

He stopped at her voice and turned to her, smiling slightly as she came closer. He idly picked at his collar.

"I didn't think it would be conductive to wear my robes."

The blond nodded at her and then looked inquisitively at Kakashi, though a hint of steel oddly entered the man's eyes. Naruko forgot that she should probably be doing introductions.

"Nakago-san, this is my new sensei Hatake Kakashi," she pointed at the infamous ninja. Then she turned to her sensei and pointed Nakago out, turning to him cheerfully. "Kakashi-sensei, this is Minamoto Nakago –my fiancé."

Kakashi blinked and mentally stumbled. "Maa, really?…Wow. Eh, nice to meet you, Minamoto-san."

"Likewise, _Copy-nin_ ," he'd recognized the man right away, remembering him and stories of him from the war and afterwards. The hint of steel in his eyes earlier had nothing to do with this however, though instead the steel hardened even more right as he'd remembered. "Naruko, would you come with me, if you're done with your sensei?"

Nakago gave him a polite smile before holding out his arm for Naruko, who moved away from Kakashi and took it.

"Minamoto-san, one moment. I see from your headband that you are from Iwagakure," Kakashi wasn't going to ask outright about it, but he had a feeling this was a marriage alliance just from knowing the opposite villages and not counting the other factors he could guess in. "Are you related to the new Tsuchikage, as I recall his last name being Minamoto?"

The other man gave a short laugh, and then practically grinned like a shark at Kakashi.

"Yes, very related. I _am_ the Tsuchikage."

Nakago started leading her away, leaving a shocked jounin sensei behind. Naruko pouted, lightly hitting his arm.

"Oi, that wasn't very nice, Nakago-san."

His lips twitched. "But you have to admit it was very funny…and he had headed straight into that one."

Naruko was quiet before she relented and burst into giggles.

The two of them continued on their way, walking together peacefully until they reached her apartment complex. They entered her home soon, after delicately traversing the deathtrap of a staircase, and then Naruko went about making them some tea, though part of her felt like heading for the cups of instant ramen instead. After a few moments of that, she brought the tea over and they settled into their seats comfortably, facing each other.

"Congratulations on your passing," Nakago smiled genuinely at her. "How was it?"

She narrated what had happened and how she'd ended up being the only one who passed. In hindsight, it was all kind of surreal and really was unbelievable.

"Interesting," he chuckled. "I know you'll do well. And you know Hiruzen; he's just being concerned. At least now, you're a real genin and you'll be on your way to becoming Hokage, as is your dream, right?"

That definitely cheered her up immensely and she enthusiastically replied. "Hell yeah! You're so right! And I can't wait to start training and learning cool jutsu."

And he just laughed as he patiently listened to her start to go on and eagerly tell him about all the things she was going to do and learn, and how she was going to be so awesome. She really appreciated it, since not many took her seriously or even took the time to really listen to her. That he cared to and genuinely cared about her, made her heart pound and made her grow just a bit more fonder of him.

Nakago set down his cup of tea and looked at her seriously, making her nervous. But his reassuring small smile towards her eased her worries a bit, and she began to slow her chatter to a stop.

"Naruko, I heard something from Hiruzen. He told me when you defeated that traitor Mizuki, that you were able to perform mokuton," Nakago brought up once it seemed like she was finally winding down.

Naruko blinked in surprise before going into a thinking pose, trying to remember that night. She didn't really like to remember it, but since Nakago was the one asking about it…

"Un, yeah. I think so," she said in a mumble. "I wasn't really thinking about it, though I don't remember saying any jutsu or anything. Only that I wanted to protect Iruka-sensei and I was really angry. Then all of a sudden some branches came up and wrapped around him," she reluctantly recalled.

He nodded and she watched him curiously, wondering what brought all this on. She didn't ask though, forcing herself to be patient, even if patience wasn't one of her strong suits.

He took one of her hands and squeezed. "Hiruzen has requested that I try to help somehow," he revealed. "There is one who would be completely proficient in teaching you, if it was not for the interference for certain people. So I'm running another type of interference," he gave her a small smile and she ended up smiling back, though she wondered who else could've taught her. "As your fiancé, I'm able to pass on words or things without much scrutiny, with the assumption that it has to do with us getting to know each other or other marriage type reasons. As a Kage, I can sense intruders and such, so we can have a measure of privacy. As specifically the Tsuchikage, any kind of behavior like that anyway can provoke war, so others will be wary or at least extremely careful in how to deal with our situation and ourselves."

Though that reason was very valid, no one knew about the engagement. It would work to their advantage once the engagement was announced, but for now he told it to her so that she wouldn't worry when truthfully he was just using his Kage skills to avoid detection for the moment.

He took a scroll from his side, unsealing it and handing another scroll that had been what was unsealed to her. She curiously grabbed it and examined its outside for a clue.

"That is from your mokuton sensei. He won't be able to meet you directly or teach face-to-face, so I'll be passing along scrolls and whatever else for you to be able to learn mokuton."

Naruko grinned widely and unabashedly tackled him into a hug. Unseeing to her, his face turned bright red and he patted her back awkwardly.

"Thanks, Nakago-san! You're awesome!"

"Ah, thank you, Naruko. And, seeing as I am a Master and my affinity has to do with Earth, which is somewhat close to mokuton, perhaps I can help you get started on your beginner exercise," he suggested, earning him another squeal and tight hug. It made him want to grin as well and fondly hold tight.

They rummaged through to see what else came with the scroll and found a small seed.

The two of them bent over it and stared.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with a seed?"

* * *

"Come on, Naruko. One more go," Kakashi goaded.

"You…sadistic…ass!" and she charged, fully intent on wiping what she knew was a smirk underneath that mask.

Kakashi parried all the blows, successful in his returns. Then he ended it quickly by swiftly moving behind her and then teasingly bopping her on the head, causing her to yell in irritation and fall to the ground tired.

"Mou! Kakashi-sensei, how come we're just doing taijutsu? I wanna learn some jutsu!" she pouted.

Chuckling, Kakashi ruffled her hair. "Because your taijutsu is horrible. We need to work on that before anything. A lot of ninja depend on chakra a lot for jutsu, but they sometimes forget the use of taijutsu. Being skilled in bringing down an opponent when you can't perform jutsu is something useful to know."

"But I haven't even done any D-rank missions…" she scratched her head in confusion, having learned about those from Genma and Kotetsu a long time ago, and even recalling a time when she was younger and hearing Asuma complain about them.

"Trust me, you're not missing anything," Kakashi twitched, mentally blanching.

"But I'm a genin, shouldn't I be doing some kind of a mission?"

"Usually, but training is important too. The way I was going to go about this if I ever passed a team was to let them do D-ranks while I read my book, but since you're the only one I can easily focus on you," he eye-smiled, saying all that nonchalantly.

She sweatdropped. _'Lazy…'_

"And if you're going to be the next Hokage, you've gotta train hard, right?" he teased.

"Bleh, you're just saying that so I won't bug you about missions any more."

"Maybe."

"Ugh!"

"Get up, it's time to go one more time!" Kakashi cheerfully said.

He looked at her with his one eye and saw she really was worn out. Naruko sat breathing heavily on the ground, legs sprawled out in front of her as her arms rested heavily on her knees.

"Hey, how about some ramen? You've earned it," Kakashi suggested, relenting for the day.

It was true; Naruko had been training with him for eight hours with short breaks. She was probably tired and all bruised up. But she had some real stamina there, to be kept going like that. Most genin had problems keeping up to jounin level stamina. It was probably partly from the Kyuubi, though he wouldn't count out her Uzumaki heritage either…

"Yatta! That's a real reward, Kakashi-sensei!" she yelled happily.

She leaped up and grabbed him, hurrying to her favorite ramen stand.

' _Well, at least she has energy to yell and hurry to her ramen…'_ Kakashi amusedly thought.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, when will you show me a jutsu?" she again prodded him about.

"I'll show you one when I'm satisfied with your taijutsu performance."

"Which one?" she asked eagerly.

"I'll show you one I did on Sasuke at the test and maybe show you a genjutsu I did on Sakura," he thought about it.

"Really?"

"Yeah…" he decided.

And Naruko gave him the brightest smile, making him feel odd.

He shook the feeling off, feeling instead uneasy about it. Kakashi stamped down on those kind of thoughts and thought about Naruko's skills. Still, he remembered when he'd first started to grill her into taijutsu, finding out what she did know. It was actually pretty cringe-worthy.

" _Alright, Naruko. I want to know how you are in taijutsu. Show me what you got!"_

_Naruko smirked before she ran in a straight line towards him. He blinked. Not bothering to move, he stood there as she tried to tackle him. Keyword being 'tried'. When that didn't work, she started in on some of the oddest moves he'd ever seen. Or experienced._

_Climbing onto his back like a monkey, he stood there in shock as she started alternately yanking on his hair and clawing at his mask._

' _Is she really…bitch fighting?'_

_When that didn't seem to work, Naruko moved onto a weird arm lock, where she was hanging onto his arm and her ankles locked at his shoulder while her arms were locked at his elbow…and she was biting at his sleeve. He blankly lifted up his arm and stared at her._

_Realizing more quickly that this method wasn't working either, in a surprising move, she bolted behind him with her arms moving behind her to clasp around his neck and yanking him down with her._

" _Guh!" he slightly choked, as he landed on his back on the ground with her landing nimbly on her feet. It was the first competent move she'd made at least._

_But then she ruined it by putting his ankle into an ankle lock, which didn't work either way since he was on his back and not his front._

" _This…is not wrestling, Naruko. And you're doing it wrong."_

_He unsteadily got up and grabbed her by the scruff of her collar like she was a dog, picking her up to stare at. She looked at him sheepishly._

" _We'll…try that again," he said blandly. "Now that I hope I'm not in a complete state of shock, we'll go again so that I can actually analyze and think about your…taijutsu. If I actually have to analyze…it."_

_They went at it again and he went along with it, fighting back only slightly and only on the defensive. What he found was that her fighting style was a combination of bitch fighting, street brawling, any type of move she could pick up from the streets or just anywhere, and flashy wrestling moves that he knew she got from entertainment wrestling on TV._

" _This is going to be a lot of work," he muttered, scratching his head._

But he taught and they kept practicing and soon she was fighting well enough, until he deemed her taijutsu saved. It was a lot more patience than he thought he'd had.

"Your taijutsu is good for now, but I want you to keep practicing," Kakashi praised, a week later and much, much more relieved.

"It's been a week, Kakashi-sensei! Will you start teaching me jutsu now?" Naruko pouted cutely, as was common with her.

He patted her head. "Alright, you've earned it. We'll even start with something better than the ones I was planning to teach you."

"Ooh! What?" she became excited.

He tapped a finger against his jaw, playfully mock thinking. "Maybe a suiton jutsu and then a katon jutsu."

"Which ones?" She was practically vibrating out of her skin.

Kakashi eye-winked at her and shrugged, "Secret!"

"What?! But aren't we going to learn it today?" Naruko glared.

"Maa, we have a mission today," he sprung on her, having held out long enough on it and trained her sufficiently for it.

"What?" Naruko was surprised. She wondered if she had to go after that stupid cat she's heard about.

"The Sandaime's given a C-rank –"

"But I haven't even done any D-ranks! Am I really prepared for one?" Even if she said it, her eyes showed her excitement and she was already mentally cursing her mouth.

Kakashi chuckled, though he admitted feeling proud. "I recommended it. I think you can handle a small one and I'll be there to watch over you."

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei…this is so awesome! So, when do we start?" She was eager to start kicking ass and making a name for herself, that way she would become Hokage in no time!

"Right now," he said, tossing her a backpack. Bewildered, she scowled when she saw clothing that the Hokage probably set aside for her.

"Wait, what are we doing?" she yelled, running after him when he started walking away from her without warning; probably on purpose, that jerk!

"Guarding Tazuna of the Waves," he answered nonchalantly.

Suffice to say, Tazuna was not what Naruko had imagined when they reached the missions office and they were debriefed on the mission, leading to meeting the man. She scrunched her nose up and squinted her eyes at him skeptically. He was a foul, despicable drunk with no sense of decency. At least, Naruko's mind had made that up and she was feeling pretty stubborn about it.

"This kid is gonna protect me? Why, she's just a little brat!" Tazuna complained and she bristled angrily.

Naruko's temper rose, but before she could snarl out a reply, Kakashi put a restraining hand on her shoulder and she forced herself to calm down. But it was just barely and she glared holes into the guy.

"I assure you that Naruko is quite capable and I'll be there as well. I'm a jounin, so I can take care of anything that goes wrong. It's just a C-rank, ne?" Kakashi eye-smiled, but there was an edge of warning in his tone.

Naruko pouted, glaring at the man. Then she got an idea, ready to at least get back at him with a tiny, _tiny_ prank.

"Mou, Tazuna-san, don't you think I can handle it? Wai! Tazu-kun is so mean!" and she put on the puppy eyes, staring directly at the drunk man. She even put on some waterworks and let her lower lip tremble while forming a pout.

Tazuna's face reddened considerably and he coughed. Then he shifted on his feet uncomfortably and tried to avoid looking at her, taking several more swigs of his bottle. Then he peeked at her and crumbled like crust on an apple pie.

"Sorry, darlin'. I meant nothing by it. I'm sure you'll do a great job," he grinned weakly. Then he chugged the rest of his bottle and began to look more panicky, turning to the Hokage. "Ah, Hokage-sama, I've got something to admit," Tazuna practically spit out, eyes wide as he tried to drink from the empty bottle. He tossed it behind him and reached somewhere on him for another bottle, looking anxious now. Anxious and _guilty_. "I can't let this little girl go on alone and get hurt. I need protecting from more than just thieves and bandits. Because of the bridge I'm building, Gato is sending ninja to kill me," he admitted.

Everyone stopped being dazed by Naruko's puppy eyes and snapped to attention, staring at the bridge builder. Tazuna swallowed down half of the new bottle in his anxiety. Hiruzen purposely stayed quiet, watching the group as he thought. While worrying, this situation wasn't as bad as it could be, especially now that the true facts of the mission had been laid bare. Kakashi wasn't even flinching and had not said a word, which raised Hiruzen's confidence in this duo.

Naruko's attitude completely changed, becoming utterly sympathetic as she marched over to the bridge builder, trying to comfort him (while Tazuna ate it all up and then some). She always was the type of person to feel for someone and do her best to help. It made Hiruzen sigh, both in exasperation for it and also fondness because it was typical of his sweet girl.

The Sandaime watched all of them, carefully saying, "There is no other available ninja to send for this, most of them already in missions outside of the village or fulfilling important tasks with the village. I'm afraid Kakashi and Naruko will have to do by themselves. However, the three of you must now be more cautious," he said blithely. This would be a good test of the duo's training and Naruko's progression, as well as hopefully bringing out her mokuton abilities again (having heard from her and Nakago of the lack of progress on that front).

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I have great faith in my student's and mine's capabilities. We'll be fine," Kakashi assured them calmly, no hesitation on his face or voice, further reassuring Hiruzen of his decision.

"Yeah, let's get going!" Naruko cheered, obviously on board. She grabbed a hold of Tazuna's arm, hauling him out of the room without another word. Chuckling, Kakashi followed after them.

"Naruko, don't forget to wear the clothing I got for you!" Hiruzen yelled after them, smirking to himself. They'll do just fine.

Nearer to the gates, the three that had left behind the Hokage saw an intimidating man, complete in Kage robes, though brown instead of the Hokage's red. Naruko recognized him immediately, running ahead and grinning as she glomped the man. This must be how it feels to have a fiancé! It was really, really, _really_ nice…

"Nakago-san, why are you here?" she asked, tilting her head adorably.

All three men fought the urge to go 'aww'.

"It's your first high-rank mission and your first overall. Despite your skills, I will tend to worry about you, especially as your…partner," he nodded at her, having been hidden in the missions room and heard, deciding then to meet her at front of the village. "Though I'm here really to just wish you good luck and to see you off, and not supposed to tell about my worrying at all."

She scratched her head in embarrassment. "Aw, thanks, though you don't have to be worried. I'll be alright!"

His lips twitched upwards as he nodded and took her hand, placing a gentle kiss on it. He hesitated but repeated the action to her cheek, nearer to the corner of her lips.

Kakashi watched the interaction with a frown, and Tazuna's eyebrows were raised highly as the old bridge builder watched curiously.

"Hey, hey, who's that guy?" Tazuna whispered over to him.

The jounin's frown deepened. "That is the Tsuchikage…Naruko's fiancé."

Tazuna's eyebrows rose even higher at that (because she was _really_ young to have a fiancé and to find someone already serious about her and just _wow_ …), before he gained a thoughtful look as he looked over at the girl.

"Hm…that's actually not surprising that she's found a guy and in a serious relationship already, with her looks and being such a sweet girl. Even at such a young age." Tazuna nodded surely.

Kakashi grunted at that.

"Goodbye then, Naruko. And take care!"

Naruko grinned widely, squinting her eyes and looking like a fox. They started to move out again, and Kakashi slowly started to relax and feel better.

Nakago watched their backs for a little while, before he finally headed to his destination. He gazed at the forlorn and abandoned compound, and sighed to himself. There were a lot of things to be done, especially if he was going to be done renovating the Namikaze estate any time soon.

But back with the traveling company…

By the time they were farther out, Naruko had rummaged through the pack the Hokage had given her and changed. This time, Naruko wore a light orange yukata as she chatted with Tazuna. She was quite happy that it was orange this time and reminded herself to gush to Hiruzen about the choice of clothing when she got back.

"What?! Are you insane, old man? I wouldn't pass you as twenty in a million years!" she exclaimed, having somehow gotten into a discussion of ages and looks with Tazuna.

"Ah, Naruko! Don't be so mean! I can pass as twenty-five! Yo, Kakashi-san, I can pass for the twenties, ne?" Tazuna brought Kakashi into it.

"Maa, I don't usually know these things," Kakashi cautiously said.

"Bah! Come on, Naruko-chan. I'm not that old!"

"Hehe, I'm sure you aren't!" she snickered.

Chuckling as well, Tazuna ruffled her hair. "Eh, you sure are a spitfire."

Naruko grinned before glancing innocently at a puddle directly underneath her that they'd stop at during a pause of their discussion, wondering about it.

"Eh? It hasn't rained in weeks! And why's there only one puddle around here?"

The puddle started turning red and Kakashi told Tazuna to move with Naruko to the side. Reaching into the red puddle, Kakashi pulled out two unconscious Demon Brothers.

The majority of the blood seemed to be coming from their noses.

Naruko's face turned red and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"HENTAI!"

Started 2/18/07 –Completed 2/19/07  
Revised 3/1/11 –Completed 3/2/11  
Edited 6/6/20-6/8/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a rather weak excuse I used to keep Naruko and Kakashi on the mission….eh, just think that mysteriously, somehow all ninja were all on missions. I kept it that way because it wasn't too bad anyhow, and it was somewhat funny. Also, I don't know why fanfics almost always have Tazuna's character as a loser/jerk. I always have fun making up funny interactions between him and Naruto. As for Mokuton, if it looks like I'm forgetting it in later chapters, I'm not –I actually do have plans for it.
> 
> And to imagine Nakago, picture Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi. The hotness, eh…FY's Nakago was the image I had when making up Nakago's character –I'd even stolen the name! Kesesese~
> 
> EDIT: 7/29/20 I made more edits to this chapter as I had the pervious ones, definitely centered on making the Wave Mission acceptance/reveal go more smoother. Might not be as funny as more? But eh…as least it feels like it's more smooth.


	4. Make Me Bad

"Baka...ecchi...bastards...torture..." Naruko was muttering.

The hand-tied Demon Brothers nervously walked behind Kakashi and Tazuna, an angry blonde glaring at their backs. Huffing angrily, Naruko stomped forward and slipped in between the brothers, grabbing onto their ears and pulling them forward harshly.

She was still pissed at the ecchi chuunin missing-nin, who'd had the bright idea to hide in a single genjutsu'd puddle in the middle of the road, right under her yukata and a straight view of her underwear (which they hadn't meant at all, but it is what happened and they fucked themselves over without meaning to). And now as prisoners —and enamored and repentant with the blonde as they immediately were —they followed without complaint, to the amusement of Tazuna and exasperation of Kakashi.

"You sure I can't kick their asses, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruko growled, narrowing her eyes behind her at the pained brothers. She tugged on their ears harder, but Kakashi suspected they might've become instant masochists for his blonde charge.

"Sorry, Naruko. No can do," Kakashi said amused, though the only reason he'd brought them along too was because Naruko insisted and they were oddly acting rather docile.

"I can't even castrate them?"

"No!" the chuunin brothers yelled horrified. Naruko smirked evilly at them and they shivered. It definitely shut them up, though Kakashi and Tazuna wisely said nothing as well. Men, as a rule, did not like to talk or think about castration.

She stopped suddenly, the brothers leaping back in terror once she released their ears. She whirled on Kakashi, scrunching up her eyebrows.

"Why the hell are we still heading towards Zabuza?! Shouldn't we try going to another direction?"

Kakashi patted her head. "Because, Naruko, we have to face him head on so that we won't lead him to Tazuna-san's family."

Naruko pouted and started grumbling again as she stomped forward, still wondering if it wasn't better for Tazuna to be sure of his family's safety with his own eyes. But Kakashi had a point too…

"Eh, I think you should get down, little girl," a gravelly voice said out of nowhere as a large sword flew towards her. Her scream was trapped in her throat as she froze from the sudden attack on her. The Demon Brothers surprisingly tackled her and Kakashi decided to do the same with Tazuna, seeing her momentary safety.

"Well, that's a surprise. Meh, who cares. The Demon Brothers are below my caliber anyway. However, Copy-nin Kakashi is another story."

Naruko almost bristled at the man's attitude and his nerve to insult her two saviors, who had just earned a point each in her book. But there's still going to be a lot more groveling from them or else.

The half-naked man standing on the sword pointing out her sensei was another issue. One where while she was worried about him, she wondered if Kakashi was really that infamous around the shinobi world? Hopefully good enough to beat this asshole! But she didn't want him to get hurt either…

"Naruko, guard Tazuna away from the battle. Don't get involve," Kakashi ordered as he lifted his headband and revealed a strange red eye with three tomoes in it. It reminded her of Weasel-kun, who she remembered had eyes like that a long time ago.

"Cool," Naruko whispered in awe. Shaking her head, she decided this was definitely not her cup of tea and that they really couldn't face Zabuza like this. Regardless if they led him to Tazuna's family or not, they weren't at liberty to keep the man from his family in case of something going wrong.

It would be better to bring Tazuna home and guard him there, then lead the weirdo away.

"Hey you! Eyebrow-less freak! Take this," she yelled, throwing an object at the ground in front of their enemy and somehow grabbed a hold of Tazuna, the brothers, and Kakashi before hightailing it out of there in the speed of light only capable by Uzumaki Naruko herself. She hadn't outlasted and out-sped Anbu back in Konoha for nothing!

Somehow, they had reached a village nearby and Naruko prepared herself for the worse dressing down since she could remember. Which happened all too frequently, now that she thought of it…

"Naruko…what were you thinking?" Kakashi asked calmly. Maybe too calmly.

She flinched. "Aa…Well, you see, I thought that Tazuna should be with his family. Something could've happened at the battle and I thought it would've been better for him to be with them in case. And…I was worried about you."

Kakashi sighed and ruffled her hair tiredly. "You have a good heart, Naruko. But you need to use your head sometimes."

That was it? Whew! She was expecting something a lot worse. She was really lucky. She really got off good there…unless Kakashi was waiting for the perfect moment to strike and was biding his time…

"Hey, what was that you threw back there?" Tazuna asked curiously. "I caught a whiff of it and it left a bad taste in my mouth."

"Un! I was going to use it as part of my last prank in celebration of becoming a ninja. It's a really…smelly smoke bomb. You don't want to know…Well, at least know that Zabuza would be too busy gagging to look for us for awhile. Trained shinobi or not, no one can stand the Uzumaki Crank Bomb!" She almost laughed insanely, which was exactly what everyone was imagining at the moment as they stared at her, especially since she did end up at least grinning wildly.

"We should…get going now," Kakashi said anti-climatically.

They began to start heading to Tazuna's home when Tazuna paused and stopped Naruko. He smiled fondly at her and said, "Thanks for the consideration, Naruko."

She just grinned back at him and gave a cheesy thumbs up, before marching forward and reclaiming the Demon Brothers' ears and pulling them along, protests and whimpering emerging all the while from them.

They kept going and going, until they finally reached their destination –a modest home on a cliff.

Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, was extremely welcoming to them. In fact, she began acting as if Naruko was her own daughter, which made her blush and preen happily. Disturbingly though, everyone thought she was hinting Kakashi was a capable husband.

"Maa, Naruko-chan! You don't have to do that!" Tsunami gently reprimanded when Naruko began setting up the table.

Naruko smiled shyly, enjoying her motherly presence and wanting to be of help to her. "Um…it's fine. I don't mind. Actually, do you need help getting food ready or anything?"

"Why don't you call _your partner_ over? I'm sure he'll be delighted to help his little lady."

"Ahh, Kakashi-sensei. I think she means you," Naruko stated unsurely, her cheeks going red.

Her sensei walked over and took her place setting the table, staying quiet. Naruko helped Tsunami with preparing the dinner. Tazuna stood in the background, chuckling.

"Eh, Tsunami! Quit teasing them," Tazuna chastised her.

"But Father! Don't they make a cute couple?" she said it bluntly for once.

Naruko gaped and then scurried away, hiding with the missing-nin brothers. Kakashi winced and began talking.

"Um, Tsunami-san, Naruko is just my student. I'm training her to become a better ninja. Besides that, I'm fourteen years older than her," he tried to explain.

The woman snorted, "Meh! You just don't see what I see yet. The foundation is there! Students are supposed to develop crushes on their mentors too. And age is nothing but a number. I even thought you two were married when I first saw you two walk through that door together. You two look perfect together and act adorably around each other."

"You really think so, Tsunami?" Tazuna snickered.

"Of course," she glared at her father.

Kakashi stayed quiet before excusing himself. He went to go find Naruko, wondering if she was alright. She seemed embarrassed and bothered earlier.

"Saa, I'm happy I found you so quickly. How are you?" Kakashi said when he found her by the water. She was quiet and staring into the blue depths, knees held tightly to her.

"I'm okay…"

He smiled and sat down next to her.

"That's good. I talked to Tsunami-san."

Before he could say anything else, Naruko spoke up. "When you passed me, I was so happy. For once I had succeeded in something. Someone other than Iruka-sensei and Hiru-jiji had actually smiled at me and thought I was good enough. And you saved me before that. I owe you for saving my life, no matter how weird I thought you were then. You've never judged me by being its…carrier. Heh, you treated me to ramen so that's always a bonus.

"When you said I was the only student you've ever passed, and then I heard the rumors and everything, I was so proud. But I was upset too. I couldn't believe someone actually thought I was that good and I began doubting myself. You believed in me and got a C-rank, you were patient with me and actually taught me, you _actually spent time with me_ and treated me as if I was _normal_.

"That's why…when Hiru-jiji told me I should wait until next year and why…I almost agreed. I was tired of being treated unfairly and if being with Uchiha-teme would stop it a little, why not? I hate the glares. I hate the remarks. Sometimes, I actually hate the villagers. I almost gave up, gave into it."

Naruko sniffled and wiped her eyes. "That's why, when you stood up to Hiru-jiji and vouched for me, I owe you the most."

She half-stood, crouching, before leaning over and kissing his visible eye. It fluttered close and then opened when Naruko fled back into the house.

Kakashi stared after her, wide-eyed.

* * *

That night as she dreamed again, Naruko saw two people who seemed oddly familiar again, but she swore she had no idea why and that she knew she had never seen them in her life, aside from these dreams. Once again, the blond man looked the most familiar and she couldn't recall why, almost as if something was keeping her from really remembering him…

_A beautiful woman, her waist-length black hair swishing as she walked down the corridor, greeted a blond man._

" _Minato, what is it you want to show me?" she smiled brightly, obviously in love with the man._

" _My project._ _ **Our**_ _project. It's finally completed. I wanted you to be the first to see its creation."_

_She gasped, "Eternal life…you've finally completed the Immortality Jutsu!"_

" _And to think, you were so curious and doubtful of the idea," Minato teased._

" _Ah, but it is_ _ **my**_ _gift! I've seen your work and I've helped. I've seen how close you were. And now…it is finally time."_

_The man held out an arm and she placed her hand on it, walking together outside. Another man joined them, Minato's best friend. The three of them walked leisurely towards a closed off area, cages of prisoners and the dying all around._

_The soon to be victims pleaded to be let go, but the three said nothing and continued with their plans._

" _Be careful, Minato," both his friend and lover told him._

_He smiled beguilingly at them, walking towards the middle of a huge sealing circle he had drawn up around the area. The red liquid containers around him began to glow and the woman and man began rolling the cages one by one into the outside of the circle. The hoarse voices of the sacrifices screamed for help and mercy, but they were ignored._

" _Let it begin," the dark-haired woman voiced._

_Minato started and the red light spilled into the ground, the circle glowing. The red light grew blinding, making the woman and man cover their eyes. When they opened it, Minato was holding his hands up to the sky and a red stone was floating in the middle of them._

_All of the sufferers were dead._

" _Minato, my love, you did it!" the woman cried out in joy._

_He smiled at both of them weakly, collapsing onto the ground with the stone falling onto his chest. She cried out and raced towards him._

" _Minato? What's wrong? Oh no, the sealing must have taken its toll on you…"_

" _Hera…I love you," Minato said before closing his eyes._

_Sobbing, Hera grabbed the stone that caused all of this trouble. She ran towards the other man, surprising him with her actions. Touching the odd stone to his chest, by instinct she had somehow transferred Minato's soul._

_They had discovered the way to eternal life._

Naruko woke up blearily from the dream, wondering where all that came from. Once again, she had somehow experienced another weird dream that she had no idea where it was concocted from. And, like last time, it was as if the details of the dream of the people in it were quickly drifting from her.

"Naruko, you awake?"

She had forgotten she was sharing a room with Kakashi. Face reddening, she nodded. Then she realized it was dark and that he probably couldn't see her.

"Uh, yeah, sensei. What's up?"

"Are you okay? It sounded like you were having a nightmare or something." He didn't mention he saw her restless movements with his Sharingan eye.

"Yeah, just a weird dream…" she distractedly replied.

He got up from his bed and walked over to her. She was still lying down, so he sat on the edge.

"Ne, Naruko, you know if you ever need to talk I'm here, right?"

"…Mmhm."

"Good," and he leaned over and returned the kiss from earlier, touching his lips to her temple. He left and went back to his bed, wondering why in the hell had he done that.

Absentmindedly, she realized by the feel of his lips that he hadn't been wearing his mask.

The next day, they met the brat of the family, Inari. Looking curiously at him, Naruko decided it was her mission to dissolve his brattiness. All the kid ever talked about was Gato and death and blah blah blah.

And for the something something time, she and Kakashi exchanged exasperated glances at Inari's ranting about something or other. All this over Gato.

The _name_ made Naruko want some kind of nice, rich and delicious cake.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei! When we go back to Konoha and before, can you treat me to some chocolate cake? I think I'm craving. Something about crime lords sharing names in French with desserts."

Kakashi chuckled and said, "Maybe."

Inari looked incredulously at them.

* * *

The red-haired man tilted his head to the side curiously, looking at the paper on the desk in mild amusement and intrigue. A serene smile slowly spread across his lips and he gently circled the information in red ink with the brush held lazily in his hand.

Curious, curious.

So the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was engaged, huh? And to the Yondaime Tsuchikage as well. What an interesting development…

He lightly tapped the end of the brush against his lips, gazing at the picture of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki as wheels turned in his head. Oddly and what seemed to be unusual for him, his smile stretched across his face into a full smile and he leaned back and folded his hands decisively on his lap.

Curiouser and curiouser, indeed.

  
Started 2/23/05 – Completed 2/28/07  
Revised 3/2/11 – Completed 3/2/11(6/11/11)  
Edited 6/9/20 – 6/9/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, if you recognized that scene from earlier, props to you. It's adapted and based from the original FMA anime series, and will be important to the developing story later.


	5. Kelas (Let's Dance)

Deciding to make the best of their time while Zabuza was out of commission (Kakashi was kind of really curious about that stink bomb and how deadly it actually was —what the hell did his student put in it?), Kakashi thought it would be a good time to start on some more training. That's why he led Naruko some ways from Tazuna's house and where there were plenty of trees.

"So…what is this that we are learning?" Naruko asked, hoping it would be jutsu this time around.

"Meh, I promised those jutsu, right? Well, you have to have better chakra control. We could start off with learning the tree climbing exercise," Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Um…Kakashi-sensei, Genma-san taught that to me a long time ago," she flushed red at the admission, though remembering that moment made her a little sad and happy too. She really did miss one of her first friends…

"Oh," the jounin said only, dumbfounded and feeling a little odd about that.

Knowing that, Kakashi immediately thought on the next step then. They ended up with Kakashi dragging Naruko to the nearest stream. Well then, looks like they'd just have to move onto water walking!

"Strip," Kakashi ordered.

"What?! Kakashi-ecchi!" Naruko shrieked, her hands moving up automatically to shield her chest.

Realizing how bold and suggestive he had sounded, Kakashi turned red. "Um, I meant only to…whatever you're comfortable getting wet in. We'll learn water walking instead."

"Oh…" Naruko then hesitantly started removing the orange jumpsuit the Sandaime had allowed her to wear.

Kakashi's face almost turned an impossible shade of red as he forgot to turn around. Before he could catch her completely half-naked, Kakashi whirled around and stuttered out, "Anou, I don't mind letting you borrow my shirt…"

He nervously took off his vest and then his shirt, tossing that behind him to her. Sensei or not, Naruko would've been in her underwear and that would've been highly inappropriate. Tsunami's words were still fresh in his mind as well.

"Finished!" Naruko said cheerily.

Sighing in relief, Kakashi turned and almost face faulted. The shirt was way too big for her, even though it showed off her legs. And she had long legs…

"Um, the…way this goes is that you…" and while Kakashi explained, he tried to stop his eyes from drifting down and staring.

Naruko kept falling in, but by the time they had to go back she was getting the hang of it.

"Very good, Naruko. You might be able to get this by tomorrow. We'll start the katon jutsu tomorrow as well," Kakashi praised, proud of her progress and determination.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruko was suddenly hesitant. "Do you…wish that Sasuke had passed instead of me? I mean, he probably would have mastered water walking already. He'd probably have learned everything faster than I can…"

"Do I? I wished he passed _with_ you, but I wouldn't trade you for the world. I do wish you'd have an easier time though, even if it meant putting up with another student. And don't compare yourself to him; you're learning at a fast rate."

Naruko beamed at her sensei, "Kashi-sensei is so sweet!"

She glomped him tightly, running off in the direction of Tazuna's house. Her long legs captured Kakashi's attention and he twitched. Glompage and pretty smile. Long legs. And…

_Kashi-sensei_?!

Sighing, he followed after her.

But then…

"So, finally caught on, eh?" Tsunami said, every time she caught Kakashi's eyes drifting to Naruko or when he blushed just a tiny bit where it showed his eye.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kakashi stiffened.

The woman just shook her head and continued making dinner. Naruko and Inari were in a corner heavily talking, though about what no one could guess. The Demon Brothers tried to sneak in and join the conversation, but they were stopped each time with two intense glares from the two (Kakashi was still weirded out by them and their decision to tag along; why had he allowed this insanity?). Tazuna was playing shogi with Naruko yelling out her move from the corner.

It was turning out to be a rather cozy family environment, considering the danger.

"Naruko, dear, could you help Kakashi-san with the dishes? That way, we can have something to eat on for dinner," Tsunami was planning something. What it was, Kakashi didn't know. But he was _definitely_ suspicious of that woman!

"Okay, Tsuna-bachan," Naruko grinned, happily walking over to help.

Kakashi watched warily as Tsunami grinned mischievously and he couldn't say anything when the most obvious thing happened. The woman discreetly moved her foot and Naruko tripped over it, heading straight into Kakashi's arms. That is to say, if Inari hadn't of darted behind him unexpectedly, leading to Kakashi falling backwards and Naruko following after him like a freaking cliché.

It would've been funny if it had been anyone else.

Kakashi was not amused. Especially with Naruko on top of him in such a compromising position and Naruko would be just as amused when she stopped feeling the pain from the fall.

"Un, sensei! I think I sprained my ankle or something!"

Sighing, Kakashi had the misfortune to look up and into Naruko's face. No, their lips didn't connect or any cliché things like that. No, Naruko had the most…wanton expression on her face. Or it _looked_ wanton, especially with the colored cheeks and wet eyes.

She kept breathing heavily, making Kakashi uncomfortably aware of her chest. Rather than say something about it, he opted to subtly push her off and gently sit her next to him on the floor.

"Let's take a look at that ankle, alright?" Kakashi went on as if nothing happened. Somewhere a snort was heard and Kakashi reserved to have a talk with Tsunami.

Gritting his teeth unnoticeably, Kakashi began prodding her ankle and looking for any signs of pain on her face.

"Mou! Kashi-sensei, that hurts. Be careful, onegai?"

"Hai, hai. I'm sorry," Kakashi eye-smiled, ruffling her hair.

"Careful, sensei! Your sweetness is going to make me fall in love with you," Naruko joked, laughing as she slowly stood and limped away and headed towards the Demon Brothers.

Kakashi stared at her retreating back, frozen in place, with Tsunami sniggering in the background and Tazuna in disbelief.

As Naruko stayed with the Demon Brothers though, she started to remember the water walking exercise that Kakashi started teaching her that morning. Then she started remembering how Genma had taught her tree walking.

" _Yo, Naruko," Genma greeted her._

_His usual senbon was in his mouth and he was slow in his gait to reach her. She pouted at him as she stared at her failed attempt at a bunshin._

" _Hi, Genma-san," she grumbled, glaring at the sickly thing._

" _What the hell is that?"_

_She pouted even harder. "It's a bunshin."_

"… _Right. Did you feed it some crack or something?"_

" _Genma!"_

_He smirked at her and took out a senbon, jabbing it towards her bunshin._

" _You fed it too much chakra, and you don't have the control to regulate your own chakra to fix that problem. I can teach you something to help you on that, but you'll never get bunshin. You just have too much chakra and the exercise will even build up more. But since the exercise will help your chakra control, any big jutsu in the future that needs chakra control should be helped by this."_

" _So I should forget the small stuff."_

"… _For the moment."_

_She sighed and waited and he instructed her on how to do it. She got to a couple steps before she fell back. And he watched and watched as she tried over again. When she'd gotten at least a quarter up, he nodded to himself and then started to go up the tree after her. Once he'd reached her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, ignoring her face flushing red. He started walking up, urging her to keep going._

" _Try to keep going."_

_And she did. With him there with her, she actually gained a measure of confidence and assurance to keep walking up. At the top, he told her to stay still and see for how long she could stay on for, and that he'd stay there with her to help her. If she fell, he was right there._

_He moved his head a little, rubbing his cheek past her silky hair and then almost burying his face into her neck. He contented himself into resting his chin on her shoulder and leaning his face under her chin._

_And despite losing concentration and blushing full forced, Naruko stayed there for a long time, her huge reserves allowing her to have this moment with her crush. In the end, he actually had less stamina and chakra, so he was the one forced to get down first._

That had been when Genma had first started distancing himself from her, she mused. After that, he just never seemed as around as he used to be, and he never stayed long around her when he was. And as she brooded to herself, a certain pink-haired almost teammate was also brooding.

Sakura, the persistent and diligent girl that she was, stood dejectedly after once again being rejected by the Last Uchiha. She frowned to herself and glared balefully at his back before becoming horrified. She'd never glared at Sasuke-kun before…

But why was she chasing after him still anyways?

He never gave anyone the time of the day and he was always being a jerk. And now she was starting to brood like him too!

Doing this in the Academy a second time around was showing her how pointless and a waste of time this was. It just became exhausting and draining for her to chase after a stupid boy, especially being back in the Academy.

She hated it.

Once, everything seemed grand and chasing after Sasuke had been so important. But now, doing things again, once more doing Academy stuff and chasing after Sasuke, was…redundant. Repetitive. Without _end_.

Her life had become tedious and she felt like she was standing still, even as everyone moved forward.

' _ **Shannaro! We'll show them! No more crap. Fuck the Uchiha. It's time to get serious and move our asses!'**_

Naruko. _She_ really had moved on. She had graduated and she'd been taken being a kunoichi seriously. Well, so would Sakura. She would have Naruko acknowledge her and she _will_ be a real kunoichi. She didn't know why, but she desperately wanted Naruko to acknowledge her as such.

After all, _Naruko_ had graduated and _she_ hadn't. Naruko was the one on a mission right now, while she was stuck staring at _Sasuke-kun's_ back. And she realized, she didn't know all that much about the other girl. She remembered never liking her for some reason, but she'd never gone out of her way to find out about her. Even still, back then and especially now, Naruko had suddenly become much more important, even more than Sasuke.

And if she was that important, then she had to find out what she could about the other girl.

She nodded surely to herself before marching determinedly home, surprising her parents with her newfound vehemence. She even started to eat a full plate of food, startling her parents into staring at her in surprise.

"Dear, is something wrong?" Haruno Michiru asked as she watched her daughter get a second plateful of food.

Sakura blinked and looked at her.

"No, why?"

"…You're…eating a lot more than usual," Haruno Daisuke pointed out weakly, just as amazed as his wife.

Sakura frowned. "I need the calories because being a ninja requires more. Ninja burn off calories faster than regular people, Kaa-san, Tou-san."

"You never worried about that before, sweetheart. Usually you're always saying you need to be on a diet for the Uchiha," Daisuke grumbled at the last part.

Sakura scoffed. "It's stupid and the Uchiha is stupid. He's more or less a jerk anyway. I need to start taking being a ninja seriously. I need to be a real kunoichi like Naruko."

Yeah, her change was sudden and she was secretly afraid she'd have a relapse and quickly go back to being that weak girl…but she was just so _tired_ of the way her life was and how she was being left behind. By Ino. And for some reason, especially Naruko. And she hated not being taken seriously, which Sasuke reiterated every day, without fail. She was sick of being weak.

"Oh. What caused this sudden change and what does…Naruko have to do with it?" Michiru shared a look with her husband.

"She's a kunoichi. I'm going to get out of that Academy, I'll show up Sasuke, and I _will_ have Naruko acknowledge and _see_ me." Naruko, who was dead last. Naruko, who has always trained harder and taken being a kunoichi more seriously than her, even though Naruko doesn't have the heart and attitude of shinobi. Naruko, who was out of her reach. For now.

"Too soft. I'll grow stronger and have the harder shell, so that you won't have to," Sakura mumbled to herself, cutting viciously into her food again.

After she was done, she started immediately to her room.

"I have to study. I can't waste time or not be focused," Sakura yelled behind her as she climbed the stairs. She had to study hard and mean it, not just memorize everything. It was important so that she wasn't caught off guard. So she was going to go straight to studying seriously, so that she could learn what she needed to and get out of the Academy.

' _When I get back on your team, Naruko, I won't hold you back,'_ she vowed. And it _would_ be Naruko's team.

Daisuke and Michiru stared up the stairs and then at each other.

"We should invite the girl over for dinner or something," Michiru blinked.

"Yeah, if she could get our girl to be all fired up and finally stop obsessing over that boy and leave that stupid diet, thank Kami for Naruko. And since Sakura's determined to stay a ninja, thank Kami again that Naruko somehow got Sakura to actually get serious about it or else our daughter might've kept fooling around and get herself hurt or killed," Daisuke sighed.

"Well, when she comes back from that mission I hear she's on," Michiru hummed. "Though we might have to make sure Sakura doesn't get a stomachache from all that food she ate. After not eating so much, that sudden influx of food won't be good…"

The two relieved parents began talking in low tones about the girl who somehow helped their daughter, just as two men started on the same subject in the same village.

Nakago refused the offer of tea, seating himself in front of the Hokage's desk, once again back in Konoha. Hiruzen sighed and got himself comfortable for the long talk.

"I hear you are renovating the Namikaze estate," Hiruzen started off.

Nakago nodded. "Hai. It is her home, so she should be able to live in it. I would _prefer_ her to live in it, than her current place of residence."

Hiruzen looked stricken, face entirely weary. "I wish she had a better place to stay, but people refuse to sell her a nicer place. The civilian council make it more difficult, since housing is in their hands. Clan compounds are thankfully shinobi related, but as Naruko has not been named an official Namikaze to the public, the estate has been closed to her. Your presence and your involvement is a blessing in this situation."

"Yes, I'll keep the renovations secret for now, and I'll show it to her once the Chuunin Exams are over and her heritage has been announced. Then she can immediately move into her birthright."

The Hokage sighed. "But this will not be easy. They know you are here to renegotiate some kind of truce between the villages, but not that it is a marriage alliance. If you don't keep low key on the renovations, they'll find out about you quicker than we'd like them to."

"Don't worry about that," Nakago waved it off. "I have that under control. But you are right. Your council will be causing problems once they find out."

"They won't like it. For one, just as a jinchuuriki, they would never agree to the union, seeing as they'll be afraid you'll use her against us somehow or even turn her against us."

Nakago gave him a sharkish smile. "Or just take her."

Hiruzen rolled his eyes. "And that. Any number of things really –and truthfully, their fears aren't unfounded." He gave him a look, to which Nakago just shrugged. "But secondly, once they find out she is the Last Namikaze, they will definitely not approve of a foreign shinobi marrying her, much less an Iwa-nin and never mind the Tsuchikage himself."

"So picky and fickle, your council," Nakago complained. "Still, why don't you enact the Clan Restoration Act? She is the last of two important clans. Naruko and I can keep our arrangement, while you have local ninja that _you_ handpicked for her to appease the council, but also are ninja you trust with her as opposed to ones the council will be forcing onto her. They might even force an arrangement between her and the Uchiha if you're not careful," the Tsuchikage wrinkled his nose distastefully at that.

"Kami forbid. Naruko can't stand the boy," Hiruzen went halfway between a grimace and a chuckle. "And the ones I'll pick will be kind to her and won't force themselves onto her, I'd hope so. The council may treat her like a broodmare, but if I choose them then that won't be the case at all."

"Of course not," Nakago frowned. "I would be patriarch of the clan and be her actual husband. The others are just for show and to put up a front against the council. There's no need for them to touch her in any way."

Hiruzen really did chuckle. "Jealous already, Nakago?"

"Hiruzen," the blond warned, scowling.

The Hokage only kept chuckling, brushing off the Tsuchikage's glare. They continued their talk late in the night, Haruno Sakura staying up late and pouring over books and scrolls, and Uzumaki Naruko plunging into another strange dream.

" _Kitsune-hime," Minato tickled the little one's nose. The baby girl giggled and her tiny hand reached up and grabbed his finger._

" _Chibi Naruko…you're my pride and joy. I love you, little one…"_

_He smiled sadly, descending into the darkness with Naruko in his arms, the cries of battle all around. Even the fiery fires burned as if in agony._

_A minute later…and there was a huge flash of light that lit up the entire area and then imploded in on itself. The body of the Yondaime Hokage lay still in an archaic sealing circle that only the Sandaime Hokage understood what it was._

_Namikaze Naruko was held in the deceased's arms._

_Her cries stopped by the faint humming of the dead, the lullaby fading into the wind._

Naruko was crying softly, but Kakashi still heard it from his side of the room. He stood up slowly, hesitantly moving closer to her. He didn't find out if she was awake or not, or else he'd lose his nerve.

He slid onto her bed, slipping his arms around her and humming an old song his old sensei used to hum everywhere. Naruko's crying slowed and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was too tired to leave so he ended up falling asleep where he was, unaware that Naruko had been awake since she woke up crying.

Elsewhere, a blond man woke up, his half naked body in agony and the tattered remains of a white trench coat with red flames surrounding him.

Started 3/2/07 –Completed 3/11/07  
Revised 3/3/11 Completed 3/4/11  
Edited 6/12/20-6/12/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The return of the orange jumpsuit and a pink "Naruto". Seriously, I think Sakura would be getting fed up by now, after some time doing the Academy again and the same treatment from Sasuke. Plus, she doesn't have any other friends and it's almost like the time when she was a kid, alone, friendless, and being bullied.


End file.
